This invention relates to specimen collectors of the type used to collect human urine specimens.
Specimens of human wastes are frequently required for medical diagnostic testing purposes. Many types of specimen collector have been proposed, among which the disclosures of the following U.S. patents are representative: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,560,199; 2,734,198; 3,625,654; and 3,654,638. Ideally, a urine specimen collector should be easy to install and remove, extremely inexpensive in cost, and should be designed in such a way as not to unduly obstruct the normal operation of the water closet.
Known specimen collectors suffer from one or more disadvantages which hinders their utility in most applications. Some collectors employ removable liners or containers and a companion support fixture which is inherently awkward to install, unstable when installed or both. Others have such great size that they can effectively block the working bowl area of the water closet, which impairs the normal operation of the water closet. Other collectors utilize an adhesive substance for temporary attachment of the liner directly to the water closet surfaces, which adhesive does not readily adhere when condensation is present on the water closet surface. In addition, in such colllectors the collected specimen is readily spilled when attempting to detach the collector from the water closet surface. Still other specimen collectors are only utilizable with water closets having a predetermined shape and are thus not adapted for a use with a wide variety of water closets.